MobileViews.com Podcast

MobileViews Podcast 544: CES 2025; Google AI Studio; Disasters & Tech

I had Google NotebookLM write this podcast summary based on its listening to the podcast. I made a few text edits including the spelling of my surname

Todd Ogasawara and Dr. John Westfall discuss their underwhelming perception of CES 2025, focusing on the prevalence of vaporware and concepts over readily available products (as is normal for CES announcements).  They highlight a few items of interest though, including an **AI-powered fan**, a **robot vacuum with a robotic arm**, and a **petal-shaped camera**,  comparing these to existing technologies.  The podcast also features discussions on **older technologies**,  **consumer tech blind spots**, and the importance of **disaster preparedness**.  Finally, they share anecdotes about their experiences with various tech products and companies.

MobileViews 543: Hello, 2025! Looking ahead with Sven Johannsen and Don Sorcinelli

For this first podcast of 2025, Jon Westfall and I are joined by frequent guest panelists Sven Johannsen and Don Sorcinelli. In this podcast we:

• Asked where AI Is as we start 2025:
• Where is the "smart" Apple Siri?
• When will Microsoft Recall for the Copilot + PCs be released to production
• Why can't LLMs spell words even when we tell them exactly the words are
• What's the deal with LLMs training LLMS?
• Then, we discussed what we want in 2025:
• Todd: Folding iPad or Pixel Tablet, an actual 2nd generation Pixel tablet, USB-C cables with marking to indicate power and data capabilities
• Sven: Equipment manufacturers to put QR code leading to manual on device
• Don: Less “Move fast and break things” mentality, Anything actually innovative
• Jon: Apple Watch Ultra 3 or Series 11 with new biometric sensors (Blood Glucose? Blood Pressure?)
• And of course, we had a couple of rants:
• Sven: Why do Cell companies hate their customers? Dell XPS 16 wouldn’t support Chrome OS Flex (WiFi wouldn’t work)
• Jon: A fix to a rant - use FaxZero service to fax customer service requests to make use of the "Fax Loophole" - companies actually respond to detailed requests via fax
• We also mentioned a couple of new recent toys:
• Todd: AGEEN  13-Port USB C Hub for iMac 24 inch that fits perfectly under a 2024 M4 Mac mini without blocking the vents on the bottom of the chassis. Includes NVMe slot for M.2 SSD
• Sven: DJI Mini 4 Pro, SODI Wireless Keyboard with Touchpad - Foldable & Bluetooth
• Don: A self-stirring coffee mug
• Jon: Backbone One;  Apple Titanium Milenese loop watch band. Appreciating the Apple Silicon battery life

MobileViews Podcast 542: AIring of Tech Grievances part 2

For this end of 2024 podcast, I'm joined once again by the Google NotebookLM podcast bots. And, once again, I used the beta-release interactive chat mode to interject during the podcast bots discussion.

Note: Jon Westfall will rejoin the podcast for the first podcast of 2025.

NotebookLM's summary of the podcast:

MobileViews Podcast 541, Part 2, focuses on listener tech complaints. Adam Lein criticizes the inconsistencies of USB-C charging, while Todd Ogasawara suggests improvements to USB-C cable standardization. Jason Dunn expresses frustration with limitations of the Google Pixel 9 Pro's Gemini AI, particularly regarding locked-screen voice access. Finally, Ogasawara lists further grievances, including Google's discontinuation of Google Podcasts and its VPN service, and the lack of a Pixel Tablet 2 and wider availability of Microsoft's Recall feature.

MobileViews Podcast 541: Airing of Tech Grievances "hosted" by Google NotebookLM synthetic hosts

The MobileViews Podcast is usually co-hosted by Todd Ogasawara and Jon Westfall. However, for this special post, Google NotebookLM's Audio Overviews feature will host the podcast with "AI" synthetic podcast hosts (after a brief introduction by me). I also used the beta Interactive Chat feature to interject a few comments that the synthetic hosts responded to.

This podcast focuses on the old Seinfeld TV show’s fictional Festivus holiday tradition of the Airing of Grievances. We’re going to focus solely on technology related grievances. It can be about hardware, software, services, or even technology trends. Hence, this is the "Airing of Tech Grievances".

MobileViews Mini-podcast 49: Google NotebookLM synthetic podcasting

The first podcast section was recorded outdoors to test the iRay DW40 4-channel wireless lavalier microphone kit.

The second section was generated by Google NotebookLM's Audio Overview feature to create a synthetic podcast-like discussion using text-based source material. For this example, I wrote a text discussing three of my 2024 tech grievances (with a nod to Seinfeld's Festivus). A PDF of this text was uploaded to NotebookLM as a source document.

 

In the first section I mentioned testing the relatively new NotebookLM Audio Overview "chat" feature which lets you (the human) interject into the synthetic podcasters' ongoing discussion and have "them" respond to the newly introduced material. Unfortunately, it turns out that the audio file saved only included the originally created audio summary. I'll use an external recording setup to record my next attempt to use this feature to create a longer Airing of Tech Grievances for a full podcast that will include grievances from several friends.

There were a couple of spots where the synth-podcasters misinterpreted what I wrote in the source document (mild "hallucinations"). However, overall, I'm impressed by NotebookLM"s podcast output.

MobileViews Podcast 540: Closing out 2024

In this last podcast of 2024 for Jon Westfall and me, we discuss:

• One more affordable tech gift idea: Raspberry Pi 500 & Raspberry Pi Monitor
• Android OS 15 finally hit my Pixel 7a
• Google NotebookLM - engage with AI hosts during a Audio Overview
• Android XR: Gemini for headsets and glasses
• December Pixel update: Clear voice feature for Google Android Recorder app
• iOS/iPadOS 18.2 released
• Apple 2024 App Store/App Award winners
• Jon: TailScale for VPN/Mesh setup. Based on Open Source WireGuard

MobileViews 539: Affordable tech gifts holiday ideas. Guest: Don Sorcinelli

In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I are joined by frequent guest panelist Don Sorcinelli. We discussed:

• Not a gift idea (unfortunately): Google said to have stop developing future Android Pixel Tablets
• Gemini (AI) now available in Google Sheets
• Holiday tech gift ideas:
• USB-C hubs wwith integrated NVMe SSD enclosures
• Sub-$100 mechanical keyboards
• High power (120K+ RPM) electric air dusters
• Full circle: Cash (distant past), gift cards (recent past), digital cash (current)
• Nomatic collapsible collection of travel bags. Nomatic MagSafe phone wallet
• A one-year AI service subscription bundled with personal tutorial for friends and family to learn how to make productive use the AI service
• Home automation pros and caveats

MobileViews 538: Impressions of our new M4 Macs; new AI tools; WorkOutDoors app

In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I discuss:

• iPadOS 18.2 public beta 2 - Image Playground
• YouTube Premium new AI "Ask" function for YouTube Android app
• Todd's M4 Mac mini impressions
• Jon's M4 Pro MacBook Pro impressions
• Homebrew package manger for Jon's new Mac installation
• Jon finally got around to trying the WorkOutDoors app
• Jon subscribed to ChatGPT Premium to make custom GPTs. His first project: Constructive Student Paper Feedback

MobileViews Podcast 537: Waiting for our M4 Macs; Apple AI imaging waitlist; Google Learn About

In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I discuss:

• Waiting for our new M4 based Macs. Rationale for models/configurations chosen
• iOS/iPadOS 18.2 public beta 1. AI imaging features waitlist
• Running Clipchamp in a browser on my Mac to produce SRT caption files
• Google Learn About
• New AI features for Windows Paint and Notes for Windows Insiders
• Microsoft bundling CoPilot Pro in Microsoft 365 personal/family license - but NOT for US customers
• Using ChatGPT to reply to repetitive text messages

MobileViews Podcast 536: Fall Back! New Macs, ChatGPT Search, Apple bought Pixelmator

For this podcast, Jon Westfall and I are joined by frequent guest panelist Sven Johannsen. We discuss:

• Testing iOS 18.1 iPhone Call Recording in MobileViews mini-podcast 47
• iPadOS trade-in wiping weirdness. Todd had to use the MacOS Apple Configurator to prepare an iPad mini 5 for trade-in
• ChatGPT Search
• Apple bought the Pixelmator photo editor app team
• Microsoft Windows Calculator
• Todd's mini-rant: Personal info persistence during customer support calls and an Eero/Echo Dot mesh network issue
• Jon's mini-rant: Nomatic Packable Tote hidden bag secrets
• Apple's October M4-based Mac announcements. Who's buying what and why?